‘Neither fish, fowl nor good red herring – that feeling of being betwixt and between.’ This is how hairdresser Mr Alexi describes the experience of being a teenager in a 1954 edition of The Tatler magazine.A teenage dance in Dorset | The Tatler | 6 February 1957In 1954, the word ‘teenager’ was a relatively new addition to the lexicon. Although it first appeared prior to the Second World War, it only really caught on in common usage during the late 1940s. And by the 1950s,…

‘Short hair is not a whim of fashion; it is significant for an adaptation to modern existence,’ so proclaimed hairdresser Monsieur Eugène in 1929 (Britannia and Eve, August 1929).In this special blog, using pages from the British Newspaper Archive, we explore one of the most iconic fashions of the 1920s – the bob. We look at its cultural impact, its most famous wearers, and how women achieved and maintained the perfect bobbed style.Want to learn more? Register now and explore The…

In discussing the fashions during the Second World War, we turn to the pages of Britannia and Eve.  Along with providing general news, this paper has dedicated sections on such topics as fashion, home, and knitting. Wonderful illustrations and photographs are included amongst its pages.Explore all our fashion findings here!KnittingKnitting advice and patterns are no strangers to the pages of our newspapers. It could be said that the value of such readily available information was made all…

War impacts every part of life, some more obvious than others. In this post, we will explore the impact of war on fashion; particularly, we will look at how the topics of economy and quality shaped war-time fashion. The article excerpts included in this post are from two recurring columns: ‘The Highway of Fashion‘, printed in The Tatler, and ‘Fashions by Jean Burnup‘, printed in Britannia and Eve.Explore knitting and fashion in the Second World WarEconomyWith the…

When you first think of the Great War, I’d wager that fashion is not the first thing to come to mind. However, it was, in fact, on the mind of many who lived through those years of war.There are several series dedicated to the topic of fashion that ran throughout the war years and that you can find in The British Newspaper Archive: (1) ‘Woman’s Sphere in War Time’, printed in The Sphere; (2) ‘Woman’s Ways’, printed in The Sketch; (3) ‘The…

Michelle Higgs, author of A Visitor’s Guide to Victorian England, has uncovered lots of fascinating stories by searching our historical newspapers. She got in touch to tell us about Lady Florence Harberton and her fight for Victorian women’s freedom to wear practical clothing.**************It might surprise you to know that until the 1870s, it was rare to see unaccompanied middle or upper-class women walking in the streets. This was because they ran the risk of being mistaken for prostitutes, so…